Rejecting the opposition’s no-trust motion against Jagdeep Dhankhar, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju said that NDA has a majority mark in Rajya Sabha. Rijiju called the opposition INDIA bloc’s move to submit a notice for removal of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar as ‘extremely regrettable’ and said that the Centre is very proud of him.
"In the Rajya Sabha, Congress and around 60 other members raised a notice against the Vice President. The Chair's authority must be respected. We respect Jagdeep Dhankar a lot. The notice against the VP by the 60 MPs is condemnable," Rijiju remarked.
In a first, parties of the INDIA bloc on Tuesday submitted a notice to bring a motion in Rajya Sabha for the removal of Dhankhar, accusing him of ‘partisan’ conduct as the chairperson of the Upper House. A 14-day notice has to be given and it should be approved by the Deputy Chairman before the motion is taken up.
If the motion is moved, these parties need a simple majority to get it passed, but they do not have the requisite numbers in the 243-member House.
Opposition members, however, insisted that it was a ‘strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy’.
On behalf of the opposition, Congress leaders submitted the notice signed by 60 opposition MPs, including from the Congress, RJD, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, JMM, AAP, DMK, Samajwadi Party, to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody. It comes in the wake of verbal clashes between opposition parties and the Rajya Sabha chairman. The opposition has been upset with Dhankhar over multiple issues.
(With inputs from PTI)
